Srinagar, October 16
Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was elected to the state Legislative Assembly today in the byelection from the Pahalgam constituency, thereby lending credence to his two-year-long rule at the head of a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir.

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also emerged victorious from the Batamaloo constituency here with Mr Tariq Hameed Qarra defeating his National Conference rival, Mr Irfan Ahmad Shah. Mr Qarra had unsuccessfully contested the last Assembly elections in 2002 from the Batamaloo constituency losing to Irfan’s father, senior NC leader, Mr Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah. The Chief Minister won the seat by getting 9,056 votes and leading by a margin of 5,174 votes, defeating his rival, Mr Rafi Ahmad Mir, of the National Conference who got 3,882 votes.

This is for the first time in his political career that he got elected to the state Assembly, after he was first elected unopposed in the 1967 elections. The Mufti heads the coalition government as a member of the Upper House or the State Legislative Council, after he took over in November 2002.

While the PDP emerged victorious from the two Assembly segments in the Kashmir valley, its coalition partner, the Congress, has maintained its hold over two seats of Akhnoor and Basohli in the Jammu region. With this, the number of seats of the PDP in the state Legislative Assembly has increased by one and gone up to 17 in the 87-member House. The National Conference, which continues to be the largest opposition party, has lost all four constituencies in these byelections, including Batamaloo, which had been retained by the party in the last elections. Its strength has been reduced to 27 from 28 prior to the byelections.